Send the invitation too early and it’s forgotten; too late and it catches guests with their holidays already booked. The good news: there’s a proven rhythm that works for most weddings — and a few situations where you should shift it. Count backwards from the wedding date.
A timeline counting back from the big day
| When | What | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| 6–9 months before | Save the date | Guests block the date before they plan their holidays — especially important for summer weddings and guests travelling from abroad |
| 2–3 months before | Invitations | Early enough for guests to organise, late enough that every detail (times, locations) is confirmed |
| 3–4 weeks before | RSVP deadline | The caterer and venue usually want a final headcount 2–3 weeks ahead — set the deadline a week earlier, to allow for late replies |
| 1–2 weeks before the deadline | A reminder to the undecided | There’s always a group who “meant to reply” — a short, cheerful reminder clears most of them |
| A few days before the wedding | Final details | Parking, transport, a change of time — on a digital invitation you just update the content and everyone sees the new version |
When to move the plan earlier
- Summer dates (May–September): peak holiday and other-people’s-weddings season — send the save the date the moment you have a date and a venue, even 12 months ahead.
- Guests travelling from abroad: flights and time off are arranged months in advance. For them, the invitation (or at least a save the date with the location) goes out among the first.
- Destination wedding: if every guest has to drive or fly and stay overnight, the rule for overseas guests applies to everyone — they’re all “from abroad”.
- A wedding on a holiday or long weekend: then local guests scatter too — treat the date like a summer one.
How to set an RSVP deadline (and make guests keep it)
The RSVP deadline is the most important date on the invitation after the wedding itself — the catering numbers, the seating plan and the cake all depend on it. Three rules:
- Write a specific date (“by 1 June”), not “as soon as possible” — a vague deadline means never.
- Make replying effortless. The more steps (call, then give the plus-one count, then mention the child), the more it gets put off. On a digital invitation the guest does it all in a few taps on the same page — which is exactly why they reply right away, while the invitation is in their hand.
- Plan the reminder in advance. Not as a telling-off, but short and cheerful: “We still haven’t heard from you — we hope that means you’re hunting for an outfit, not that you’re not coming.”
A digital invitation changes the maths
The classic calendar assumes weeks for design, printing and delivery. A digital invitation compresses that part into a single evening: on sealdate it’s built in the editor with a live preview and shared with a link — and the RSVPs start arriving the same night. Which means even a couple running late with their invitations (three weeks to go, panic mode) can still send a beautiful invitation with RSVP — and have accurate numbers for the venue in time.
If you’re still putting together the text that goes on the invitation, the guide on wedding invitation wording will help.